The Daycare
by loob88
Summary: What goes on behind closed doors at Camphrier Daycare? A young boy will find out as he begins his job there. Enjoy the highs and lows of his time at The Daycare!


"Alex, get UP!" Yelled Mom, shoving me out of bed.

"Geez, what did I do to deserve it?" I muttered back.

"You have a job to start. Your new job, remember? Camphrier Daycare? Ring any bells?" She sighed. My memory foggy, I tried to remember when I had applied for the job.

Then it hit me.

_It was November 8__th__ and I was walking past the daycare when I saw the 'jobs wanted' sign on the window. I decided to walk in and enquire about it._

_I was led into the staffroom by Grace, a girl around my age, nineteen or so. She sat me down, then invited everybody else in. There was her, her boyfriend Jake, her brother Sam, her Mom, her Dad, and her grandparents. Curled up on the table was a Skitty. The grandma offered me tea and I accepted it._

_Then the interview began._

_The girl's mother, Jennifer, started off first. She asked me what I would bring to the daycare. Then her husband, Bill. He asked me if I had any Pokémon. They continually fired questions at me, and I answered them in between drinking sips of rich, sweet tea. They accepted me and told me I would be working for them in a week's time._

That's how I ended up in this state at 5 AM on a Monday Morning.

0o0o0o0

I got changed, put on my boots and walked out the house, Mom's Glameow weaving in between my legs as I did. By the time I had walked down the path, the annoying feline had vanished, her pawprints vaguely visible in the November snow.

My breath fogged up as I exhaled and walked down route 7. I stopped just outside the daycare, bracing myself as I pushed open the door. It wasn't light out yet, and my eyes had to adjust from darkness to sudden light as I entered the Daycare.

"Good morning!" Grace chirped.

"Morning. I'm Alex, the guy who applied for the job. You told me to come back today and-" I started to speak, but was cut off by Jake.

"Hey, Alex. Glad to see you came back. I have a task for you. I need you to dish out the Poke Puffs. Only one for each Pokemon, and each one has a specific preference. Here's the list." He smiled, thrusting a bit of yellow card into my hand. I looked at it carefully, making a mental note of who needed what. Grace gave me the bag of Poke Puffs and I set off into the room where the Pokemon were, not sure what exactly to expect.

0o0o0o0

I soon found out what it was like. As soon as the Pokemon saw me enter the room with the opaque white bag labelled 'treats', they shot up and began nudging my legs. I tried to get them to back away, but it was no use. They were persistent and tough. Resilient, even. Immune to my shooing and shouting. Eventually, I gave in and walked over to the corner.

"How am I going to get them to listen?" I muttered. Suddenly, it hit me. I pulled a Poke Puff out of the bag and pretended to eat it. When I realised that I wasn't getting their attention-it had possibly been tried on them before-I actually began to eat it. To say it was a sweet Poke Puff, it didn't actually taste very sweet. In fact, it had the bitter flavour of dark chocolate. I assumed that Pokemon taste buds were different to ours, otherwise they, too, would have recognized it as being exactly the opposite of what it said on the tin-so to speak.

Satisfied that I had caught the attention, I began doling out the Poke Puffs. The herd of Pokemon began to rampage and stampede towards me, scoffing quickly. The bag was almost destroyed by the time I had finished, and I couldn't help noticing that there were a few left behind.

It was then that I caught sight of the sad-looking Charmander in the corner. The other Pokemon had clearly forgotten about it, so I went over to it to see why it wasn't socializing.

The first clue I got was from its name tag. 'Name: Charmander. Number: 31904. Abandoned Egg' was what it said. So the poor little critter had no name AND no trainer to go to. I instantly felt sorry for the creature and slipped it a few extra Poke Puffs to make it feel better.

"I see you're getting on well with 31904!" Grace hollered as she walked up to me.

"Yeah, I guess I am. So what's the story behind this little guy, then?" I smiled.

"Well, like some of the Pokemon here, 31904 was an abandoned egg. Normally, the abandoned egg Pokemon socialize a lot, especially because there are generally a lot of their species here, but 31904 was unique. There was no other Charmander here, and so he became a recluse. We want to give him a name, but the Daycare Bill that all Daycares must abide by states that no Pokemon in the Daycare can recieve a nickname. Unless their trainer already gave them one. So, unless this little guy gets adopted, he'll be known as 31904 for the rest of time." Grace explained, bending down to pet him. 31904 jerked away from her and clung to me, his claws digging into my PokaLoid t-shirt. I looked down at him and smiled.

"I guess that I'll have to adopt him. It seems like he likes me." I grinned. 31904 lifted his head up from my t-shirt for a moment to smile back at me.

"Sure! That's settled, then. 31904 is yours to keep. You'll have to give him a nickname. Think about it while I get Grandma to sign the Adoption Certificate to make it all legal." Grace chirruped and left for a moment, returning shortly after with a certificate in her hands.

"Grandma has accepted it." She smiled.

"OK, then. I've thought of a nickname. I'm going to call him Blaize." I smiled. Blaize nodded in approval and did not resist as Grace handed me his Pokeball and put him inside.

This was it, I guessed.

0o0o0o0

"Anybody fancy a slice of leftover pizza?"

Grace reached her hand into the fridge and pulled out a slice of thin pizza. It looked like it had been in there for weeks. I shook my head.

"I'll pass, thanks. I'll have something when I get home. I ate a Poke Puff, anyway." I sighed, dramatically patting my stomach.

"You WHAT, dude?" Jake asked, a shocked expression on his face.

"I HAD to. It was the only way to get the Pokemon to listen to me." I muttered.

"You're crazy, then. Even I wouldn't touch that stuff, and I eat week-old pizza from the back of a fridge. What did it taste like?" Grace giggled.

"Bitter dark chocolate. And that was the SWEET Poke Puff." I gave a comedic retch.

"So it was really that bad, huh? I know I tried oran berries when I was a kid and they didn't taste half as bad. I just hope to Arceus that you didn't try any others." Sam joked. I shook my head.

"I did it to shut up the Pokemon. They wouldn't stop. They're like a rabble. They were clamouring around me." I sighed, looking through the window at the Pokemon. I picked up my lukewarm coffee and took a sip before looking at Grace.

"Anything else we need to do?" I asked.

"You need to check on the baby Pokemon in the nursery. To pacify Kanga, our Kangaskhan, give her these." Grace smiled, handing me a packet of dried oran berries. I smiled back, walking out of the staffroom, my PokaLoid t-shirt still scarred from the clingy charmander.

0o0o0o0

"Hello, girl." I whispered, trying to keep quiet as the Kangaskhan lumbered towards me. I emptied the packet into my left hand and extending it. The Kangaskhan sniffed it for a moment and ate from the palm of my hand, literally. She lumbered away and let me look at the baby Pokemon. I examined them closely. There was a baby smoochum, a baby bidoof and several others snuggled up in the straw. I cooed at them and scarpered before the Kangaskhan could return.

"Are they OK?" Grace asked. I nodded.

"All's fine." I smiled.

"All's fine."


End file.
